Seascapes

Seascapes is a weekly 30-minute Irish radio programme covering maritime matters broadcast on RTÉ Radio 1 on Fridays at 22.30 and presented until recently by the award-winning presenter Tom MacSweeney.[1] The programme deals with all subjects of maritime interest, from leisure to commercial shipping, as well as fishing and the environment, and is known for encouraging listeners' involvement.

Seascapes, which has been running since the 1990s, is one of the most popular night-time programmes on RTÉ Radio 1.[2] It commenced in 1989 as a 15-minute filler on maritime matters by Tom McSweeney who had been RTÉ's Southern Correspondent based in Cork for many years and became the station's first Marine Correspondent. The programme was later extended to a 30-minute slot and is now first broadcast each week on a Friday night.[3]

Seascapes is made up of various segments put together by producer Marcus Connaughton in the Cork studio. These include reports from the RNLI lifeboat service, a correspondent from Ireland's offshore islands, official maritime notices, the inland waterways and a nostalgic look back at marine events from times past.

The 1,000th edition of Seascapes was broadcast in mid December 2008[4] and featured two recorded programmes from the RNLI's new Irish Headquarters in Swords, County Dublin.

Both Tom McSweeney and the famous Seascapes theme tune 'Sailing By' by Ronald Binge were replaced at the end of 2009. No explanation has been given as to why the signature tune was replaced.[5]